Ali Davies
Currently Ireland, next Canada.
- 21 comments
- 3 likes given
- 10 likes received
Helping Small Business Owners and Self Employed Professionals create change, design life, re-define business and transform personal effectiveness - because life is too short to settle for mediocrity!
A great reminder that it is important not only to create our own unique definition of success but to make sure it is based on our core values - because that is where fulfillment lives. An individual success definition based on our most important values is what we should measure ourselves on. To do otherwise is to set ourselves up for regrets and unhappiness
@SteveWoodruff That is exactly why I left the corporate world back in 2001 Steve. Being Self Employed means that I can orientate my business and my life totally around my own values.
@PointA_PointB Thanks Catherine. Glad you liked it.
Great points Steve. If I may add one to yours it would be to get clear on your core values and orientate your work around that as work that is orientated around our values is where fulfillment lives.
Couldn't agree more Sandi. I like to think about values as being like a compass. Makes decision making so much easier and helps to avoid problems and heading off in the wrong direction.
Like you, it concerns me how often this is overlooked even in the personal development world as values are the foundation on which a fulfilling life and business are built
@SociallySavvy4U I think you have hit the nail on the head there - our schools really need to give as much focus to life skills as they do to academic skills. I was asked to give a talk to a group of school students last week (age 17-18) on that very topic (the life skills and mindset to create the life and work you really want) - listening to these kids points, they felt that they had a lot of "textbook" and "theory" work bit little practical help and life skills help to allow them to head off into the "real" world full prepared and ready. I think it is time for a fairly hefty change in the education system.
Some great food for thought here. Thanks.
I think listening is one of the most important elements of communication and building healthy relationships (both personally and in business) yet so often neglected. As you have pointed out here, it is as important online as it is offline.
Amen sister. Just been through that cycle recently myself. I have come to see those times in my life as just that - a cycle. A bit like the tides - they ebb and flow.
I am a raving fan of creating simplicity in my life and business so I thoroughly enjoyed this article - great food for thought. Another question I would add to your list, that I find helps create more awareness is "what is complexity in my life and business costing me." Often the answers that come up can be a great motivator for taking action.
Another benefit of doing the exercise you describe here is that it also gives powerful information to improve your time management as you can make sure the most important "hats" you need to wear get regular and protected "slots" in the diary.
So many great perspectives. I use this mantra to stop me getting stuck in regret -> "Learn the lesson. Apply the learning. Move on."
One of the ways I evaluate opportunities is to check if it fits with my core values, my own definition of success and my vision. If it passes those three factors it is generally a goer. If not, it's out.
@Sandi Amorim Yes it did. We have been big on designing our ideal life since we escaped the corporate world 10 years ago. But Martin's accident made us realise we had slipped back from our usual approach to life and had got in a bit of a rut.
So once Martin was well on the road to recovery, we sat down with a blank piece of paper and asked how we would shape our lives if we were starting from stratch again. And over a few weeks the blank piece of paper morphed into out latest road map for the life we really want for our family.
We are now making the blank piece of paper exercise an annual event, just as a health check to make sure we don't slip back into that rut again. Lots of fun!!
Sandi, this post really tocuhed a nerve for me as last year Team Davies had a fairly hefty wake up call. I was running a session with a room full of Self Employed Women when a call came it - it was a paramedic saying that my husband had been in a serious car accident and to get to the hospital.
I knew it must be bad as I know he would have spoken to me himself if he could. But he couldn't. He was trapped in the car with a number of broken ribs, breathing difficulties and legs, stomach and chest bashed up.
They had to cut the roof off to get him out. I sat at the hosipital for an hour before he arrived at the hospital in the ambulance. For that whole hour I didn't know what state he was in.It is a horrific feeling I can't put in to words.
But we were lucky. Although it is a horrific smash and even the police said they don't know how he survived it, his injuries were not life threatening.
It is easy to take your plans for life for granted and think you have plenty of time to make them happen. But the reality is that you don’t know when something will suddenly happen that will rob you of the opportunity to have the life you want with the people you want.
Wake up calls don't always have happy endings like ours did. And that is why it is so important to not wait for a wake up call before you grab your life by the scruff of the neck and shake it into something you really love.
Thank you for raising this topic. A subject close to my heart and an important one to bang the drum about.
Great list Emelia. I would expand point 12 to say as well as aligning with purpose we should get crystal clear on what our core values are and align all areas of our life and business around those. I believe doing that is the key to a fulfilling life - even when life gets tough.
Carol, this resonated for me on a very personal level. On 6th April 2011, I was hosting a meeting for Self Employed Women when I got a call. It was a paramedic saying my husband had been involved in a serious car crash.
It was a horrendous experience that I can't put fully in to words. But we were lucky. Although he had a few broken bones and was badly bruised, he was lucky to survive. But,as you point out, these things do teach us a lot about ourselves and our lives.
They are wake up calls to design the life and business we really want to live fully. But I guess the challange for us all is to grab life without needing wake up calls.
It is also a reminder that we often think we have all the time in the world to do the things we want with the people we want. But the reality is that we never know when something will happen to rob us of the opportunity to have the life we want with the people we want.
And that is why we must grab our life and businesses by the scruff of the neck and shake 'em into something special.
Carol, this is a wonderful story and message for us all. A reminder that we need to intentionally DESIGN the life we want and set the goals that will turn that into reality.
I always think it is important to keep in mind, if we don't have a claer vision we can't choose the right things to spend our time on in an over busy, over scheduled world to realise that vision.
I have family in New Zealand (Auckland) and went to visit them many moons ago now. Loved the place and the people. I love the examples you give here. A great lesson in how to be different and wow your customers just by being true to yourself and your values.
YES, YES, YES. Well said Natalie.
I share your position on this. Language we use in our heads and verbally has a huge impact on our actions and otucomes. I would also add could, should and ought to to your list of words to be banished. In fact, there should be an alternative dictionary that lists all the words to be banished and why.